“People find a home here”

St. Bernadette, Butner

When parishioners of St. Bernadette in Butner gathered in September for their parish’s 50^th anniversary, they celebrated in the same church where the first members attended Mass in 1958 on the 100^th anniversary of the apparitions at Lourdes. But tradition has it that Mass was celebrated in the church as early as 1942, when it was built as one of three chapels for Camp Butner, the Army base which, in those days, was the town. The base included a POW camp, and the solid construction and workmanship of St. Bernadette is due in some measure to the skills of German prisoners of war who helped build it.

Sister Carol Loughney, IHM, is Pastoral Administrator of St. Bernadette. Father J. Paul Byron provides priestly ministry. When Sister Carol arrived in 1999, a typical Sunday crowd at Mass was around 20 souls. Today the parish includes 250 registered families, and many more unregistered. “People find a home here,” Sister Carol says. “They come and they want to stay.” The parish draws members from the communities of Butner, Stem, Creedmore, northern Durham and southern Oxford. There are probably more Hispanic families than Anglos all told, and all ages are represented. “A wonderful thing,” Sister Carol says, “is that our parishioners like doing things together.” Members of various cultures collaborated on the anniversary celebration, sing in the combined choir, and help with the annual town festival. And the many children in the parish receive religious education together.

The explosive growth of the religious education program is one reason St. Bernadette is hoping to expand in the future. Classes that once met in the parish house moved to the garage of the house, and an all-purpose building with classrooms and meeting space is sorely needed.

Just down the road from St. Bernadette is the Butner Federal Correction Complex, and prison ministry has long been a special priority of the parish. Parishioner Mike Chamberlain headed that ministry for 20 years before retiring. Today a team of 25, including Deacon Bert L’Homme, Father Tom Tully and Father Art Kirwin, OP, brings Scripture services and the Eucharist to the complex.

Sister Carol praises the talents and generosity of her diverse congregation. She also expresses gratitude to Sacred Heart Parish in Pinehurst, officially a “sister parish” to St. Bernadette for six years and a continuing source of support when it’s needed.

At note at the end of St. Bernadette’s 50^th anniversary program reads: “Our celebration today is enriched throughout by the different languages of our parishioners who grew up in many cultures. We believe this inclusion is a pleasing offering to God and best represents who we are as a community of faith.”